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Katherine. M. Flegal, PhD, David F. Williamson, PhD, Elsie R. Pamuk, PhD and Harry M. Rosenberg, PhD

Katherine M. Flegal, Elsie R. Pamuk, and Harry M. Rosenberg are with the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hyattsville, Md. David F. Williamson is with the Division of Diabetes Translation, CDC, Atlanta, Ga.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be addressed to Katherine M. Flegal, PhD, National Center for Health Statistics, 3311 Toledo Rd, Room 4311, Hyattsville, MD 20782 (e-mail: kflegal{at}cdc.gov).

Estimates of deaths attributable to obesity in the United States rely on estimates from epidemiological cohorts of the relative risk of mortality associated with obesity. However, these relative risk estimates are not necessarily appropriate for the total US population, in part because of exclusions to control for baseline health status and exclusion or underrepresentation of older adults.

Most deaths occur among older adults; estimates of deaths attributable to obesity can vary widely depending on the assumptions about the relative risks of mortality associated with obesity among the elderly. Thus, it may be difficult to estimate deaths attributable to obesity with adequate accuracy and precision. We urge efforts to improve the data and methods for estimating this statistic.

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